Gunshots 11- Flashback

She crawled across the hard cement floor to where the metal door hung loosely on its hinges. She knelt in the doorway staring in at the battered laboratory. Shattered glass littered the floor and counter tops while the liquids contained in them were slowly creeping across the floor.

Mixed with the colorful liquids was thick, dark red blood. She stared at the blood for a moment trying to comprehend what it was, where everyone was and why they hadn't taken her with them.

She sat back on the hard floor and sobbed as tears streamed down her cheeks. She hated being left out. They never appreciated her; they called her a failure. They didn't love her but she wanted their approval… yet she didn't know how to earn it.

Then she heard voices shouting in the distance. The little black hedgehog stopped crying and looked down the hall hopefully. Maybe they hadn't left!

She pulled herself onto two feet and tried taking a few steps down the hall but almost immediately lost her balance and fell on her face. She choked back her tears; failure at yet another thing..

Pushing this thought from her mind she crawled forward on her hands and knees down the hall, the hard cement hurt her bare knees and palms but she ignored the pain and continued forward.

She came to another doorway she recognized as the other laboratory. She wasn't allowed in this one. However, this was more important than any rules set down by the scientists. She crawled up to the door and pushed it open a bit with her hand.

As she looked into the room she saw two of the scientists standing with their backs to her and her and their hands held high in the air, "Please!" one of them begged, "We have no idea where the first experiment is!" She immediately heard the fear instilled in his voice and knew something horrible was happening.

"YOU LIAR!"

She didn't see who shouted this but the voice was unfamiliar. The scientists were in her way; she couldn't see anything else in the room except their long white coats and the dark hair on the backs of their heads.

"It's true!" the other said, "Please, this is the other experiment; we don't know anything else!"

"Then you are of no more use to us." This voice was female and had a slightly hissy accent to it.

Then a loud banging erupted from the room and the scientists fell to the ground. Blood was splattered across the floor as more shots were fired into their limp bodies. The small hedgehog only stared in horror as she watched this unfold.

Blood splashed through the small crack in the door and across her face. She felt this liquid on her cheek and recoiled in horror as she realized what it was. She screamed helplessly as she looked back at the scientists she now knew were dead.

The door was flung open as a white cat and three human soldiers stepped through the door and glared down at her. All three stared for a moment and then the cat let out a cold harsh laugh, "Some threat." She said, "We spent three months searching for these scientists for that?"

"Well they were ex-ARK researchers." One soldier commented, "I mean, Shadow wasn't all that scary looking and look how dangerous he is."

Shadow? Where had she heard that name before?

"You're right." The other soldier said raising his gun, "We should just destroy it now."

The hedgehog stared up at the gun barrel pointing at her with curiosity. She had never seen a gun before and had no knowledge of its deadly purpose.

The cat raised a hand to stop the soldier, "No." she said, "She doesn't look very old… maybe not even over a year. Perhaps we can still get some use out of her."

She bent down to the hedgehog and looked her in the face, "Would you like to meet 'Commander' young one?" she asked, "He's a very important man."

She wasn't quite sure how to respond so she simply nodded her head. The cat smiled and lifted the hedgehog and held her in her arms. She looked down at her and then back at the two soldiers, "You two take care of everything in this lab." She said forcefully.

The soldiers nodded assent and pushed the door open farther and went back in. The cat turned and headed in the opposite direction down the hall. "What's your name little one?" she asked the hedgehog.

"…Hannah." She responded in a high squeaky voice.

The cat smiled slyly and kept walking. Hannah looked over her shoulder back at the open door and saw the soldiers tearing the lab apart. Also she saw a rather strange machine near the back wall with a small black creature floating in a cylinder glass.

She stared for a moment just thinking. They had wanted the 'first experiment' and had spoken of already having the 'other experiment.' Was this the other experiment?

And was she the first one?